Gaming News

Evade

"Here's how Femfreqs latest video is dumb, but first, stop threatening her you idiots." would have been pretty easy to do.

gizmo

Personally I think a more long form response to her overall thesis would have been considerably more useful than nitpicking each new video.

In the absence of that and being of the general belief that the videos themselves didn't warrant such coverage in the first place, I didn't really have an issue with them not commenting on their merit and focusing on the "stop threatening her you idiots" part instead.

Evade

gizmo wrote: »

Personally I think a more long form response to her overall thesis would have been considerably more useful than nitpicking each new video.

Now that it's finally finished maybe there'll be some from the more mainstream outlets but I doubt it.

gizmo wrote: »

In the absence of that and being of the general belief that the videos themselves didn't warrant such coverage in the first place, I didn't really have an issue with them not commenting on their merit and focusing on the "stop threatening her you idiots" part instead.

We're in an age where articles are written based on a few tweets, basing one on a whole ten minute video is almost going above and beyond. It just would have been nice to have some criticism as a counterpoint to the true believers.

pablomakaveli

Thargor wrote: »

I googled it and I still dont know what you're on about, then again I googled Gamergate and I still couldn't tell you what that sh1te was about either so I assume this is more of the same.

The sensible approach is to ignore the whole lot. How this nonsense has shoehorned itself into gaming culture I'll never understand.

Most normal gamers just care about the games. All this manufactured drama has nothing to do with my hobby. Both sides of that toxic gamergate nonsense need to take a dive off a cliff and take their nonsense with them.

Dyr

pablomakaveli wrote: »

The sensible approach is to ignore the whole lot. How this nonsense has shoehorned itself into gaming culture I'll never understand.

Most normal gamers just care about the games. All this manufactured drama has nothing to do with my hobby. Both sides of that toxic gamergate nonsense need to take a dive off a cliff and take their nonsense with them.

fcuking A, this is just oprah winfrey shenanigans that's become a part of american culture in the last five years.

Retr0gamer

gizmo wrote: »

Regardless, it is a pity that, following the rise in prominence of the series, no one did cover it in more detail but as Rich Stanton tweeted at the time (can't find the tweet at the moment, sorry) one* of the unfortunate side-effects of the level of abuse she got was that it made it difficult for any reasonable publication to wade in without appearing to be piling on with everything else going on.

Am I allowed to hate the new ghostbusters movie now because it was absolute garbage and not because I'm a woman hating pig?

gizmo

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Am I allowed to hate the new ghostbusters movie now because it was absolute garbage and not because I'm a woman hating pig?

But of course, as did many critics at the time including notable ones such as Richard Roeper who wrote a fairly scathing review for the Chicago Sun Times site and then wrote about the **** he got for it afterwards. Christ, even Polygon weighed in later with an article entitled, How we've lost the ability to criticize Ghostbusters. I imagine this is precisely the scenario Stanton was referring to in his tweet.

But in any case, Roeper is a movie critic whose job in this case is to review movies and write about topics within the movie industry. In the Tropes case, as I said above, I don't think a series of Youtube videos made by some woman in the US warrants the same treatment from the gaming press, certainly not in the absence of the drama surrounding it but following it, only in a more general sense on the topic she was attempting to discuss.

Robert ninja

pablomakaveli wrote: »

The sensible approach is to ignore the whole lot. How this nonsense has shoehorned itself into gaming culture I'll never understand.

All this manufactured drama has nothing to do with my hobby. Both sides of that toxic gamergate nonsense need to take a dive off a cliff and take their nonsense with them.

Gaming outlets have an impact on your hobby more than ever. Trust me I wish it wasn't the case but to say it doesn't affect your games... it just does. Fallout: New Vegas' developers didn't get a wage bonus because of scoring from such sites... and that's just the ones we hear about. Lord knows how much is hidden under NDAs.

GG's current priority target is defending Persona 5's translation because it looks like game journalists are colluding to write multiple articles and conjure drama that it's so bad it needs to change so their friends might score localisation jobs when in fact P5's translation has been flawed but faithful to the original script.

http://www.oneangrygamer.net/2017/04/kotaku-gets-flak-for-trying-to-create-persona-5-localization-drama/29118/

In news:

Previously on-point analyst predicts Playstation 5 http://nichegamer.com/2017/04/28/ps5-in-2018/

Not sure if I believe this. Seems a little too soon. I really think Sony will try to ride the Pro a little while longer. Then again with how fast technology is moving and how Sony admitted they're competing with PC gaming instead of Xbox... it's not a stretch to imagine. I don't even think they'll have a traditional console release next... I expect they'll have to go the Microsoft route and start combining their console as a pre-built, locked-down computer with access to PS+ as a service which other platforms (Windows/Linux?) can avail of, with cross-purchasing like the XBO.

Sonics2k

Please please please, can we avoid the whole bloody GG stuff.

I'm frankly happy that FF has finished the Tropes series, it started off fine but quickly devolved into a cesspit on both sides.

My personal problem with the Tropes series was that so much of it was just either highly misinformed or a total lie, and the lack of decent responses from FF about it really didn't help.

johnny_ultimate

Persona 5's translation is a little dodgy.

Functional, but weak by Atlus standards and rife with odd grammar and overly clunky language. Notably less spark to the writing compared to its predecessor.

As an aside, I have no friends and/or family members working in the localisation industry.

Code Vein (Bandai Namko) gameplay, indeed it looks souls inspired but from this it actually looks to be either co-op or an AI companion with you or both.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URLdBq3_cHM

Robert ninja

Deleted User wrote: »

looks souls inspired

In news:

Persona 5 director thanks fans for interest in Japanese culture: http://www.oneangrygamer.net/2017/05/persona-5-director-thanks-fans-for-embracing-japanese-culture-in-latest-rpg/30119/

Starcraft source code returned: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/170283-Reddit-User-Finds-Starcraft-Source-Code-Returns-it-to-Blizzard

That last story makes me so mad I can't even explain. What wondrous things could've happened with the code in the players' hands.

NinjaKirby

Shiminay wrote: »

I will never cease to be amazed at the blatant stupidity of the man-babies who made that numpty famous. Anita Sarkeesian has about as much business investigating anything as I do designing women's fashion. Had the man-babies shut their fking mouths, she'd have been a tiny blip with no attention and even less of a voice, but instead they had to keep attacking a harmless woman who's nonsense would have literally zero impact on anything and be called out for the sham it was. So in a lot of ways, I'm delighted, because if there's one thing I hate more than stupid people attempting to provide "commentary" on something they know very little about, it's screaming man-babies on the internet.

I think people oversell the idea of "man babies" who are supposedly super outraged over her content.

Even if there are a few hundred tweets that are "angry" with her, that's a tiny fraction of the followers of her biggest critics. If the abuse is going both ways (and I think it is) then it's kind of like she riles up idiots on both sides.

She basically has somehow managed to commercialize victimhood. I mean isn't that her selling point? "I'm getting bullied but if you donate to me we can stick it to those bullies"?

She's a smart business woman (I bet Zoe Quinn is fuming that Anita managed to swoop in and steal the limelight) and if people want to give her money for whatever it is she wants to do next then that's on them.

It's interesting anyway, I think it's pretty fascinating that we live in a culture where so many people think being a nerd is cool while simultaneously trying to depict nerds as "40 year old men living in mommy's basement".

On the other hand there IS a lot of juvenile stuff in video games and plenty of examples of women being portrayed... questionably... in games. Is that a bug or a feature though?

If every game is unique or individual with it's own selling points and target audience then what's the big deal if a game has scantily clad women running around or whatever?

That's the point I'm not getting. There are so many different games out there so what difference does it really make if some of them have these weird portrayals of women? Surely it's easier to just not play those ones and play other games instead?

It's a situation where saying "I love to play video games" has become trendy and cool for the hipster kids but the massively popular games themselves contain things that clash with Feminist sensibilities (or are just full of offensive trolls in multiplayer).

I guess gamers have a real love/hate relationship with gaming and Anita has really managed to reveal that?

kunst nugget

Robert ninja wrote: »

Starcraft source code returned: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/170283-Reddit-User-Finds-Starcraft-Source-Code-Returns-it-to-Blizzard

That last story makes me so mad I can't even explain. What wondrous things could've happened with the code in the players' hands.

I would have done the exact same thing if I was in his shoes.

Robert ninja

kunst nugget wrote: »

I would have done the exact same thing if I was in his shoes.

Gotta get them brownie points.

kunst nugget

Robert ninja wrote: »

Gotta get them brownie points.

What are you on about?

SolvableKnave

Robert ninja wrote: »

Gotta get them brownie points.

It's got nothing to do with brownie points. The disc, and the info on it, was stolen property. Even being in possession of it is a crime. Now, the chap didn't really know what he was buying other than a "Box of Blizzard Stuff". We don't know if the seller was fully aware of the disc itself either. He did the right thing by returning the disc to Blizzard, admittedly after Blizzards lawyers said hello, but he did the right thing and was rewarded for it (some say the reward wasn't enough). But to say he should have put the disc up on the open net for anyone to grab a hold off is moronic, as it would constitute facilitating digital piracy.

kunst nugget

NinjaKirby wrote: »

It's interesting anyway, I think it's pretty fascinating that we live in a culture where so many people think being a nerd is cool while simultaneously trying to depict nerds as "40 year old men living in mommy's basement".

I think most people can appreciate the difference between who enjoy gaming and the ant-social breed that howl in outrage and send death threats at critics and developers because of perceived slights against their beloved passion and only the most ignorant conflate the two.

In terms of games with hyper-sexualised, scantily-clad women running around, at my age and with two young daughters in the house, I'm probably not the target market so I don't buy them. Can't say it really bothers me that they're out there because they're not my scene. Plenty of other games I can play…

NinjaKirby

kunst nugget wrote: »

I think most people can appreciate the difference between who enjoy gaming and the ant-social breed that howl in outrage and send death threats at critics and developers because of perceived slights against their beloved passion and only the most ignorant conflate the two.

The biggest problem I have with this is that we don't actually know who sends these death threats. We don't have names or faces or any details and so I think it's real easy for people to manipulate that. You can just imagine the worst, most horrible, individual and run with that in your imagination. Maybe it really is 40 year old basement dwellers...

If the person behind the anime avatar turns out to be a 12 year old kid from Poland or a 48 year old woman from Canada who was just doing it because they were bored then that dramatically changes our perspective, don't you think?

(Sorry, I wanted to expand on this. One of the most appalling things I read recently was that the parents of James Bulger get abusive messages every year on the anniversary of his murder. These aren't people related to the crime or the family, just random people from the internet. There are groups online who make a sport out of harrassing and terrorising and abusing people. Unless the specific perpetrators can be named and shamed then i actually am not convinced that scapegoating gamers or gamergaters or whatever is valid. It could be anyone sending this stuff.)

kunst nugget wrote: »

In terms of games with hyper-sexualised, scantily-clad women running around, at my age and with two young daughters in the house, I'm probably not the target market so I don't buy them. Can't say it really bothers me that they're out there because they're not my scene. Plenty of other games I can play…

Yeah, pretty much the same here. So many things that are just not for me but I have been fine just ignoring them. I don't really understand the point of Tropes vs Women in that respect and I think that the last few years of releases kind of shows that they haven't been having much impact.

kunst nugget

Robert ninja wrote: »

Gotta get them brownie points.

Just in relation to this. You bang on about ethics in game journalism. It seems a tad ironic that ethics isn't a concern when it comes to game piracy.

kunst nugget

NinjaKirby wrote: »

The biggest problem I have with this is that we don't actually know who sends these death threats. We don't have names or faces or any details and so I think it's real easy for people to manipulate that. You can just imagine the worst, most horrible, individual and run with that in your imagination. Maybe it really is 40 year old basement dwellers...

If the person behind the anime avatar turns out to be a 12 year old kid from Poland or a 48 year old woman from Canada who was just doing it because they were bored then that dramatically changes our perspective, don't you think?.

In terms of the first part, yeah, you're right - a lot of the time we really don't know how's behind it. In terms of the second part, abuse is still abuse - I'll be willing the child leeway because there's a very high chance they don't truly understand the impact of what they are doing but any adult doing it, for whatever reason they have to justify it, is being an awful human being.

Robert ninja

SolvableKnave wrote: »

It's got nothing to do with brownie points.

The dude submitted it to bloody reddit for 'upboats'.

SolvableKnave wrote: »

But to say he should have put the disc up on the open net for anyone to grab a hold off is moronic, as it would constitute facilitating digital piracy.[

Well the game is free now since April you know? It's also so old that there's no money to be made off it again. I love it when old games go open source. Great things usually happen. Look at DOOM... though that was shareware and fairly open from the beginning

Anyway the 'correct' answer is to turn that suitcase full of money to the police. I'm the kinda person that would use it to help my family. Similarly, I'd love to see Starcraft's source code in the hands of the players for fan projects. But oh well some random guy you don't know got some cheap merchandise and a voucher. Thumbs up everyone!

kunst nugget wrote: »

Just in relation to this. You bang on about ethics in game journalism. It seems a tad ironic that ethics isn't a concern when it comes to game piracy.

One has nothing to do with the other. And: https://eu.battle.net/shop/en-us/product/starcraft

SolvableKnave

Robert ninja wrote: »

Well the game is free now since April you know? It's also so old that there's no money to be made off it again. I love it when old games go open source. Great things usually happen. Look at DOOM... though that was shareware and fairly open from the beginning

Doesn't matter that the game is free or not, or that it's 20 years old, or that there's no money to be made from it. The source code remains the Intellectual Property of Blizzard. End of.

DOOM, as you said, was shareware from the start. I remember getting the floppy disc in a magazine. Star Craft was never shareware.

NinjaKirby

kunst nugget wrote: »

In terms of the first part, yeah, you're right - a lot of the time we really don't know how's behind it. In terms of the second part, abuse is still abuse - I'll be willing the child leeway because there's a very high chance they don't truly understand the impact of what they are doing but any adult doing it, for whatever reason they have to justify it, is being an awful human being.

I agree that abuse is still abuse and that there should be some punishment for those who engage in online abuse.

My point is that if we knew the identity of the abusers then it would be more difficult to paint them as fedora wearing, neckbeard, man babies, living in basements.

A large part of Anita's shtick has been the idea of straight male bullies doing the harassment but there seems to be no actual suspects arrested etc. So people are actually buying into it without too much thought.

I found one guy that was charged with harassment, Gregory Alan Elliot, and he seems to have been a white guy but doesn't seem like a stereotypical online bully. (The article mentions Sarkeesian) https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2012/11/21/man_charged_with_harassment_after_twitter_attacks.html

Actually, it looks like he was found not guilty BUT actually it seems like he really actually is a bit of a twitter troll and maybe the court experience has made him bitter or angry.

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/users/2016/01/gregory_alan_elliott_was_found_not_guilty_of_criminal_harassment_via_twitter.html

Yeah, this is nothing to do with gaming now so I am just going to stop!
Sorry!

johnny_ultimate

Robert ninja wrote: »

Persona 5 director thanks fans for interest in Japanese culture: http://www.oneangrygamer.net/2017/05/persona-5-director-thanks-fans-for-embracing-japanese-culture-in-latest-rpg/30119/

I find myself consistently amused at how reliably and aggressively terrible the writing on One Angry Gamer is. Gotta love their constant references to 'real gamers'.

Robert ninja

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

I find myself consistently amused at how reliably and aggressively terrible the writing on One Angry Gamer is. Gotta love their constant references to 'real gamers'.

It's a response to the "heh, gamers" attitude.

https://heatst.com/gaming/kotakus-jason-schreier-bullies-a-gamer-over-call-of-duty-wwii-authenticity/

johnny_ultimate

Robert ninja wrote: »

It's a response to the "heh, gamers" attitude.

https://heatst.com/gaming/kotakus-jason-schreier-bullies-a-gamer-over-call-of-duty-wwii-authenticity/

Haha, oh Ian Miles Cheong - easily the worst writer currently writing about video games. Never been a terrible, pandering take he won't take.

Sieghardt

SolvableKnave wrote: »

Doesn't matter that the game is free or not, or that it's 20 years old, or that there's no money to be made from it. The source code remains the Intellectual Property of Blizzard. End of.

DOOM, as you said, was shareware from the start. I remember getting the floppy disc in a magazine. Star Craft was never shareware.

Starcraft was shareware but the shareware version was limited which makes it a slightly more complicated issue
https://archive.org/details/cdrom-starcraft-shareware

FAILSAFE 00

kunst nugget wrote: »

Just in relation to this. You bang on about ethics in game journalism. It seems a tad ironic that ethics isn't a concern when it comes to game piracy.

Lets get real here. He returned it because he doesn't have a CD drive in his build

SolvableKnave

Sieghardt wrote: »

Starcraft was shareware but the shareware version was limited which makes it a slightly more complicated issue
https://archive.org/details/cdrom-starcraft-shareware

I stand corrected sir. Honestly never knew that, yet I had a copy of the game.